BACK in April 2012, The Herald reported how a teenage Edinburgh guitarist, Eilidh McKellar, had duetted with blues great Joe Bonamassa at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
A lot has happened to her since then: she has relocated to London, recorded her debut album in Los Angeles, and is now writing songs for the follow-up.
McKellar, now 21, who graduated from Leeds College of Music last year, is delighted with the response to her debut album, Delta Devil Dreams. It was produced by her manager, Guy Eckstine, whose own Grammy-laden CV is studded with such illustrious names as Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and Wayne Shorter.
"It all started three years ago," she says. "Guy contacted me after seeing a YouTube video of me playing a version of Joe's song Blues Deluxe - it was the same video that Joe had first seen of me. He asked me if I had management, and I said no. He also asked me if I sang. I didn't, at that point, and he asked me if I could send him some demos.
"That was when we began thinking about the next steps we could take. I had wanted to write for a while, and I'd send them to Guy via Skype. Over a year I'd built up a portfolio of 25 songs and we refined the concept and narrowed them down to 14 for the album."
In April 2013, during her spring break from college, McKellar flew out to Los Angeles to record the album. The venue was Kingsize Soundlabs, which has in the past been used by everyone from Lucinda Williams and Wilco to Haim.
Eckstine secured the services of musicians Tim Lefebvre (bass) and Alan Okuye (keyboards); Eckstine himself played drums. The resulting album has, as McKellar noted at the time, an "indie pop rock feel with bluesy riff-based guitar vibe".
"It was a pretty intense time out there, because it was all my work, and we got in all these top musicians to play," she says now, "but it was such a great experience. Now I have a final product that I can go out and promote. The album has been received really well. A lot of my fans are blues fans who've stumbled across me through other blues artists, even though I'm an indie-rock artist, but there is that [blues] influence in the music and everybody seems to really like it.
"Live, it is working well. I've now started the writing process once again, which is exciting. I wrote the songs for the album two or three years ago. I'm a lot more mature now and have obviously improved in lots of ways. I hope to bring out new music this year. I'll be touring, and the plan is to head out to America to do some dates.
"In the long-term, I want to have a long-lasting career; I want to be an album artist rather than acts like... I don't know... One Direction. I want to produce music I'm proud of, music that can relate to people who like old-school music and also to people who like electronic music, dance music - something that has scope for lots of people to listen to and like."
She and Bonamassa have kept in touch; she describes him as "a great guy, good friend and an incredibly talented individual - one of a kind."
She has now been his on-stage guest three times in this country: Hammersmith Odeon in October 2011, Glasgow the following April, and Manchester in September 2013 ("Once again a truly amazing experience!", she blogged on her website).
Getting exposure on such a level does no harm to any fledgling star's career. But then Bonamassa, and other prominent bluesmen, are in the habit of helping younger musicians, just as they in their turn were encouraged by such legends as BB King.
McKellar laughs. "Joe was on the cover of a blues magazine last month and I was featured inside. He emailed me to say, 'I can't believe you're in the same magazine!' That was nice - I think he was quite proud. He's playing a few nights at the Eventim Apollo in March and it would be nice to catch up with him then."
She now shares a house with four other musicians and is mapping out her career, but does she ever get homesick for Edinburgh?
"Not really, though it sounds bad," she acknowledges. "I think it's just because I keep myself so busy, there is not much time to stop and think. I do miss my family, of course. The plan at the moment is to head back to Edinburgh, and possibly Glasgow, in the next couple of months, and play a few shows."
McKellar has come a long way for someone who is still only 21. She could well be a name to watch out for in the years to come.
Delta Devil Dreams is out now
www.eilidhmckellar.com
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